Creating Your Vision for Impact
Moving beyond money to define a professional and personal purpose
Out of every career option in the entire world, you picked this one. You chose to be a dentist; no one else chose it for you. So think back—do you remember what drew you to dentistry? It’s a great industry to be in. Was it all about the money and job security? Was it because you wanted to help people? Maybe as a kid you were influenced by your own dentist or one of your parents was a dentist and you simply followed in his or her footsteps. Whatever got you here, what keeps you there? What’s your purpose as a dentist?
In my 20 or so years of advising dentists, I have asked myself these questions many times. The truth is, I don’t have to work anymore. I don’t need any more money or stuff. The reason I continue working is the opportunity it gives me to impact others and give back to the people who truly need it.
Expand Your Vision Beyond Personal Wealth
A few years ago, I revealed my ultimate vision to my team and our clients at the Scheduling Institute—to have 1,000 clients all with a net income of at least $1 million a year. Why have I made this my personal mission? The vision isn’t about the money; it’s all about the impact we can have with this money!
For me, impact means generosity on a large scale—generosity with time, energy, and money. Let’s say that I could get 1,000 doctors (each netting $1,000,000 per year) to regularly give 10% of their income back to people who need it. This group would have a pretty sizeable impact, right? A 100 million dollar impact, to be exact!
Ok, now imagine that this group inspired their teams, their families, and their friends to give generously to others. Suddenly, my vision has created a ripple effect with the potential for enormous impact. The minute you take money out of the formula and decide you’re working for impact, your vision and opportunities will expand.
Create an Impact Diagram
That’s why I’ve created the Impact Diagram. You’d be amazed at how many people go through their whole lives without fully understanding whom they impact and how. I designed this diagram to help you visualize all the ways you have an impact on people, so that you can be strategic about increasing your impact in areas that are important to you.
I’ve been working with nearly 800 coaching clients over the past few years to put together their custom Impact Diagrams. The image in Figure 1 is a sample of the things that are showing up on most of our doctor’s diagrams, and the reasons why they’re so important.
If I could give you just one piece of advice for starting 2015 strong, this would be it. You need to be 100% intentional about defining your purpose. Taking the time to make your own Impact Diagram could be a game-changer for you this year. It will make practicing more fun and purposeful. It could rekindle your spark and passion for practicing that you had when you started, but might have lost at some point. Your relationships will improve.
Final Thought
This is an important concept for you to understand and is really a lot to explain in a short article, so I’ve put together a video that explains it better. Go to www.MyVisionForImpact.com and watch it. From that website, you can also download a free copy of the Impact Diagram, print it out, and begin creating your own version. You might choose to write different areas on your diagram than the ones I have listed above; these are just the areas that I focus on and that many of my clients have chosen as areas of impact in their lives.
Really commit to making what you write down in these circles your top priority. When you choose to make the commitment to your Impact Diagram, you’ll notice yourself becoming more intentional with how you spend your time and money and more aware of your impact.
About the Author
Jay Geier is a speaker, consultant, and president and founder of the Scheduling Institute. Scheduling Institute offers trainings in the office as well as trainings, workshops, and events at their training centers in Atlanta and Phoenix. For more information, call 855-315-6886, email MoreInfo@SchedulingInstitute.com, or go to www.schedulinginstitute.com.
